Last Saturday, over 200 million people around the world tuned in to watch the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The annual competition delivered its usual collection of vibrant costumes, incredible stage theatrics, and power-pop songs at this year’s edition in Stockholm, with Ukraine edging out honorary European Australia to take home the crown.

While Eurovision is a great opportunity to unwind on a Saturday night (well, depending on how strongly you react to votes you disagree with), the competition goes beyond glitz and glamour. In fact, if you watch closely enough, you may start to notice some universally applicable themes present at Eurovision that you can keep in mind when managing your business.

Theme: Cooperation

This year’s motto for Eurovision was “Come Together”, which is just as relevant to your store’s staff as it is to the continent of Europe. Of course, while Eurovision can be seen as one week a year for a group of diverse countries to put aside their differences in the name of entertainment, cooperation should be something you and your employees strive for every day.

While your store may not have the plethora of different cultures represented at Eurovision every year, even a diversity of interests may cause clashes among your team members. It’s important to preach the need for cooperation between all aspects of your business to ensure everything runs smoothly. You won’t be successful if your waiters and cooks can’t get along.

Theme: Teamwork

A big competition that involves dozens of different performances, each with their own stage design, props, lighting, and costumes, requires a huge coordinated effort by multiple parties. The fact that the competition usually goes on without any technical difficulties (excluding those that inevitably arise when countries call in to announce their votes) is a major testament to the cooperation between a diverse group of team members responsible for a variety of tasks.

Be sure to remind your staff members what a unified team can accomplish. Host team-building exercises and group outings to help your employees get to know each other better. Once everyone has a better understanding of the different roles in the store, and has learned a bit more about each other’s strengths and weaknesses, it becomes easier to work together towards a common goal.

Theme: Dealing with failure

Only one country can win Eurovision every year. Sadly, this means some 40 countries leave the competition empty-handed, with some not even having made it out of the semi-final rounds. Even those who qualify for the final are at risk of leaving with the dreaded nul points. However, having 40 losers at the end of the night gives viewers a good opportunity to see different reactions to failure. Some countries still view the competition as a success if they exceeded expectations by, for example, ranking in the top 10. Some countries use low scores to re-evaluate their selection methods for future candidates. Others take it badly and cry about conspiracies.

Things will go wrong when you run your own business. It’s in recovering from these failures that you demonstrate the strength and resilience that helped you to open your own store in the first place. Don’t be an ungrateful loser; instead, learn from your mistakes and use them continue to grow your business. After all, even though every country has to wait a year for the chance to try again, you have the opportunity to fix problems right away.

Theme: Having fun

While workplaces need some form of structure to be productive, that doesn’t mean they have to be without any fun. The Eurovision Song Contest was created as a “light entertainment programme” during a time when Europe was suffering from the effects of the war. It has transformed into something millions of fans look forward to every year – a reason to have a party, the inspiration of drinking games, and a few nights to appreciate crazy costumes and wild expressions of art.

Don’t wait until Eurovision rolls around once a year to treat your staff to a fun event. By keeping your workplace light-hearted, your employees will look forward to their jobs and work harder and smarter as a result. Not to mention, hard workers deserve a reward every once in a while. May I suggest an office party with some of the catchiest songs Europe has to offer?

While running a business, you should be striving to make your customers happy – but don’t forget about your own employees in the process. Employees keep your business going every day, and there are plenty of benefits to keeping them satisfied. We’ve compiled a list of five tips to help you ensure your employees enjoy coming to work every day.

Why Do You Need Happy Employees?

Your staff members are the face of your company. They’re a touch point with your customers and can be the first impression someone has of your business. Don’t you want to make sure that impression is positive?

An unhappy employee feels demotivated and sees little reason to help the company succeed. They may want to sabotage your business by stealing or mistreating clients and fellow workers. By contrast, a happy staff member will work towards your company’s goals, ensuring that their actions reflect a positive image of your brand and trying their best to provide a great customer experience. When all of your employees are aiming to achieve bigger goals, your company can continue to grow and reach its potential.

If that wasn’t convincing enough, never forget that your employees are human too. They work to earn a living or to fill their time; if they’re spending a third of most of their days at work, they should enjoy their time there. Productivity will decline if your staff members are only counting down the hours until they can go home.

So, now that you know why having a happy staff is key, here are a few ways you can improve morale whether you run a store, a restaurant, or an office.

1. Set a Good Example

As a boss and maybe even a business owner, your employees look to you for an idea of what is acceptable at work. It’s key to set a good example by following your own rules; not only does it make you more relatable despite being in a higher position, it also shows that you care enough about the company to not consider yourself above formalities.

If you institute a dress code, follow it. If you have strict working hours, do your best to limit the number of occasions where you show up late or leave early. Be kind and respectful to everyone, staff and customers alike. When you start picking up bad working habits without consequence, your employees will see your negative actions as acceptable for themselves. Plus, no one wants to work for a company that not even the owner seems to care about.

2. Encourage Bonding Between Employees

Whether your staff members are working in the same office together eight hours a day, or relying on each other for accurate communication in a restaurant, or trading shifts to suit their schedules at a clothing store, your employees should get along with each other as best they can. Even if you’ve managed to hire a group with similar interests, they may need some encouragement to engage with one another.

A great way to increase employee bonding is to have social events outside of the workplace so the environment is less formal. It doesn’t need to be anything expensive or fancy – maybe a Friday night drinking beers or a Sunday morning jog in a park are just the kind of bonding your employees would be happy to partake in.

At the office, consider having an outlet for your employees to indulge in their shared interests, whether it’s a pool table they can play at during lunch or an art wall for them to express their creativity. There may also be gatherings related to your business that encourage collaboration or competition between your employees. For example, if you run a bakery, you might consider having a day where each employee bakes their own favourite recipe.

A company bake-off promotes healthy competition.

3. Provide Flexibility

Often work is one aspect of life that people feel they have little control over. They show up at scheduled times, complete assigned tasks, and plan everything else around their work lives. By offering your employees some control over their jobs, you can make them happier by improving their work-life balance.

Consider small changes that can be implemented into your business model. While office workers may be able to adjust their working hours, shift workers might benefit more from being rewarded with longer vacation time for picking up several extra shifts in a week. Your type of business might also make it possible for employees to choose the location from where they work, allowing them the freedom to travel more often or giving them a break from the stress of commuting.

Give your staff the flexibility to enjoy a good work-life balance.

4. Set Goals

You want your staff members to work towards your bigger goal for the business – but what if that goal is too big or too general for your workers to feel motivated by it? Try implementing smaller goals amongst your staff to encourage some light competition. Help employees define their own goals as well so they can feel accomplished when they complete them. Of course, a little incentive always helps.

5. Show Your Appreciation

The most important thing you can do for your employees is to show them how much you care. People who go above and beyond at their jobs no longer feel motivated to impress if it seems like no one has taken notice of their extra effort.

There are plenty of ways to show your appreciation for a job well done. The most obvious one is financially: offering raises or benefits to your best-performing employees rewards them for working hard, while a promotion shows you think they can handle a bigger challenge. Since not everyone is motivated by money, it’s important to also have other displays of your gratitude, such as company parties or special Monday morning breakfasts. Even a simple kind or encouraging word now and then can mean the world to an employee who has been doing an exceptional job.

To really get the most out of this step, be sure to ask your employees how they like to be recognized for their efforts. This is a common interview question that can provide a variety of different responses, especially for those who prefer a showier display to those that simply appreciate a private thank you.

Talk with your employees to find out how they prefer to be rewarded for hard work.

By implementing these simple steps, you can ensure your employees remain happy even at work. Their satisfaction will resonate through all areas of your business, including having well-served customers and a positive work environment. And isn’t that why you started the business in the first place?

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